The present invention relates generally to the field of gas-fired cooking devices, and specifically to a gas-fired cooking device that includes a braising cavity and a heat bank to provide a more uniformly heated heating surface of the braising cavity.
Gas-fired cooking devices commonly utilize multiple burners located in various locations beneath the relevant surface to be heated. Air and fuel, such as natural gas, propane, or the like, are provided to the burners, which burn the fuel to create hot combustion gases. Because each individual burner provides hot combustion gases to a limited area, the heated surface may develop hot and cold zones. For instance, hot zones typically develop directly over each burner and cool zones develop between the burners. Such uneven heating may lead to undesirable cooking results.
Uneven heating is somewhat less of an issue when the device is used to cook meat or vegetables with liquids, such as occurs in a commercial braising pan cooking soups and stews, because the liquid aids in evenly distributing the heat. However, some devices used for such purposes are intended to also allow for the food to be browned before the liquid is added, and the heat distribution by the liquid (when present) is not ideal. Indeed, a typical braising operation in a commercial kitchen involves browning the food (e.g., meat), then simmering in a small quantity of liquid, all in the same device known in the art as a xe2x80x9cbraising pan.xe2x80x9d Clearly, the existence of hot/cool zones when browning the food is undesirable.
A gas-fired cooking device of the present invention includes a braising cavity defined on its lower side by a heated surface. The present invention provides a more uniform heating of the heated surface. A plurality of heating chambers are disposed below the heated surface and include a lower zone and an upper zone. Each of the heating chambers is heated by at least one naturally fed gas burner generally disposed in the corresponding lower zone. The gas burners generate hot combustion gases, a portion of which rise into the corresponding upper zone disposed between the lower zone and heated surface associated with each heating chamber. The upper zones have sidewalls and downwardly extending rear flow-restricting walls, or dams, that cooperate to create a zone of relatively stagnant flow beneath the heated surface. The relatively low average front-to-back flow rates within the upper zones allow a more uniform layer of hot combustion gases to be formed along the underside of the heated surface, thereby more evenly delivering heat to the heated surface. In some embodiments, the vertical depth of the upper zones is deliberately varied, from deeper to thinner moving laterally in toward the center of the heated surface. There may be two or more heating chambers.